McCain: Inaction is not an option

From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-TreworgyDES MOINES, Iowa – After making the rounds of the morning cable news shows, McCain held an economic roundtable this morning and reiterated his call on the Bush administration for immediate action.

"Inaction is not an option," McCain said. "In light of the House's failure to act, this morning, I spoke to the president about two things that the administration has not done, but should do following the inaction of Congress."

In addition to raising the deposit insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 – something both McCain and Obama have suggested – McCain called on the treasury to use its Exchange Stabilization Fund as "creatively as possible to provide backstop" for financial accounts. He also pointed to the authority granted to the government in the recent housing bill to purchase nearly $1 trillion in mortgages and mortgage backed securities as a short term solution until a bill can be negotiated that will bass through congress.

"The Administration can take these actions with the stroke of a pen to help alleviate the crisis gripping our economy," McCain said. "I urge them to do so."

Renewing a call for bipartisanship that has spanned several days, McCain once again told several-hundred local employees gathered at EFCO Forms for the roundtable that this was not the time to place blame.

"This may be and is the greatest financial crisis of our lives," McCain said. "And we have to act, and we have to act together in a bipartisan fashion. I'm committed to that. And I'm committed to doing whatever is necessary in a bipartisan fashion, and there'll be plenty of time to point the finger of blame."

The RNC released a television ad today tying Obama to the current financial crisis, even as McCain insisted that this is a time for restoring confidence, not name-calling.